This is the third year for this hanging begonia basket. Doesn’t the recent rain make the petals look even better? Picotee means those pretty edges of color it has, by the way.

I bring it inside in the winter, it dies back, and in the spring I give it fresh soil, feed it some acid fertilizer and voila! This year the weather was so un-summery that it didn’t really bloom until the beginning of September. So much for summer flowering. Well, I’ll enjoy it all fall until the really cold weather when it will come in again.

Visit Flowers for Today for flowers from around the planet and Color Carnival for brilliant color; Macro Monday and Mellow Yellow Monday are also great sites, and SOOC has more straight-out-of-the-camera shots. Such fun!

While you are here, try a search for something like “begonias” to see this plant last year, perhaps. And if you’ve arrived via a link or a search engine, you can always click on Sara’s Fave Photos above for the latest posts.

I know I’ve posted close ups of this kind of lily before, but they are just so showy! And I am so thrilled when something SO exciting blooms in my very own garden. Be careful about the pollen, you know. Florists pull off those pretty pollen things because they can stain your clothes badly. But photos are safe!

Visit Pink Saturday, Color Carnival and Macro Flowers Saturday for great photo browsing, and SOOC has more straight out of the camera shots. And you can always poke around here for something like “pink” or “lily” in the search field. Return to the latest blog post by clicking on Sara’s Fave Photos.

There’s a little bonus at the bottom of the page. Aren’t they cute?

Here’s a bouquet of roses I picked for my cousin Sheila who is visiting. If only you could smell the fragrance! The top dark orange one is Dolly Parton (love that name!), the yellow one is Peace, and the apricot one is Sundowner, I’m pretty sure. One day, I hope in my lifetime, there will be a device attached to your computer which will emit odors. Good smells only, of course. After all, if there’s enough computing power, why not? Fragrance is only molecules wafting towards us. In the meantime, you must imagine.

Visit Mellow Yellow Monday, Color Carnival and Macro Monday for more of the same, and SOOC has more straight out of the camera shots. And you might try a search for bouquet here, always returning to the full blog by clicking on Sara’s Fave Photos above.

Roses in the sunshine may not have the tender delicacy they show in overcast, soft lighting, but they practically sing their joy in bright light. To me, anyway.

Visit Shadow Shot Sunday for more intriguing shadows and Scenic Sunday, and Today’s Flowers for great photos. If you’re here from another link, you might want to click on Sara’s Fave Photos above to see if there’s an even more current photo. And you might try the “rose” tag while you’re here. There are a quite a few rose photos, I promise!

Note: There’s now a little surprise if you scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page. Hope you like it!

These are from my Peace rosebush a few weeks ago. There are still blooms out there, but not in the full heady flush you get in July. Enjoy their vision of perfection.

Visit Shadow Shot Sunday for more interesting shadows, Today’s Flowers for more lovely blooms, Macro Monday for more wonderful close ups and Mellow Yellow Monday for more photos with a splash of yellow. If you’ve arrived via the permalink, you can find the latest posts at Sara’s Fave Photos. Don’t be shy; click it and see what’s new!

The roses look good now. The challenges of the awful black spot and mildew that the endless wet weather created are mostly gone. I try to keep the fallen leaves and petals off the ground, so that means deadheading when the blooms start to get loose, before the petals fall. What a wonderful excuse to wander among the roses, clippers and bucket in hand, happily peering into the heart of each rose and gathering the spent ones. A pleasure, not a chore, to me.

Visit Ruby Tuesday for more ruby redness. And click on a new tag or category while you are here, you hear? The latest post can always be found at Sara’s Fave Photos, above.

This year the seed-started cosmos plants have done very well. The cool wet spring helped them to get established, especially since the slugs don’t seem to like them. Some of the plants had a real problem, like the petunias, but the cosmos all stood undevoured. Now they are beginning to take off. Don’t forget that they are good in bouquets, too!

Visit Macro Monday for more wonderful close ups of all kinds. Color Carnival has more bright colors. Mellow Yellow Monday thinks everything is better with a splash of yellow. Isn’t it? The Shadow is kind of neat, too. And this one is SOOC, or straight out of the camera.

Try a new link or category while you are here. Why not? The latest post is always at Sara’s Fave Photos.

I love the ‘Broadway’ rose. The buds are the prettiest of the entire 18-rosebush bed. Not sure what exactly it is, but they just seem long and perfect to me. Plus, it’s fragrant!

Visit Macro Flowers Saturday if you like flower close ups, Pink Saturday for more pretty pinkitude (I made that up), and Color Carnival for more brilliant colors.

My ‘Oklahoma’ rosebush has the deepest red roses, which try as I might, I cannot photograph, or even Photoshop, into a closer approximation of reality. The actual color of the flowers is the deepest, darkest, richest, burgundy red, and almost black in the shadows. You’ll just have to imagine.

Visit Ruby Tuesday for more ruby redness around the world. And this is also a post for Macro Monday and Blue Monday. Is that sky blue enough? And I like this photo so much I’ve called it my Best Post of the Week.

If you’ve found this post from the permalink, getting to the latest photo post is easy. Just click on Sara’s Fave Photos above.

When we went shopping for roses last summer for the new bed, this one had no name but I could see it was pink and fragrant. Sold! Anyone know the name?

Visit Pink Saturday for more pretty pinkitude, Today’s Flower for all flowers and Macro Flowers Saturday for amazingly lovely flower close ups. You might try clicking on a new tag like “scenic” or “rose” while you are here. The latest posts can always be found at Sara’s Fave Photos.